How to create dashed circles with uniform spacing?

Question

I wanted to make a dotted circle with CSS and created it with the following process.

Although the dashed circle could be displayed by this process, The gap between the end and the beginning of the dashed line became narrow, and the gap was not uniform.

.c {
  width: 500px;
  height: 500px;
  border-width: 15px;
  border-style: dashed;
  border-radius: 600px;
}

<div class="c"></div>

Is there a way to make the gap uniform? can we also control the gap between dashes?

If that's not possible with CSS alone, we're considering using JavaScript or something similar.

For what it's worth, only Chrome (and clones, I guess) seems to have issues with your code. — Álvaro González, Mar 08 '20 at 12:01

Temani Afif · Answer 1 · 2020-03-08T21:08:43.320

Here is an optimized version of the conic-gradient() solution where you can easily control the number of dashes and the space between

.box {
  --d:4deg; /* distance between dashes */
  --n:30;   /* number of dashes */
  --c:#000; /* color of dashes */
  width: 180px;
  display:inline-block;
  border-radius:50%;
  border:2px solid transparent; /* control the thickness of border*/
  background: 
    linear-gradient(#fff,#fff) padding-box padding-box,
    repeating-conic-gradient(
        var(--c)    0 calc(360deg/var(--n) - var(--d)), 
        transparent 0 calc(360deg/var(--n)) 
    ) border-box;
}

/* keep the element square */
.box:before {
  content:"";
  display:block;
  padding-top:100%;
}

<div class="box"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:20;border-width:5px;width:150px"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:8;--d:20deg;border-width:5px;width:150px"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:10;--d:15deg;border-width:3px;width:100px"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:10;--d:20deg;border-width:3px;width:100px"></div>

To have full transparency we consider mask

.box {
  --d:4deg; /* distance between dashes */
  --n:30;   /* number of dashes */
  --c:#000; /* color of dashes */
  --b:2px;   /* control the thickness of border*/
  
  width: 180px;
  display:inline-block;
  border-radius:50%;
  background: 
    repeating-conic-gradient(
        var(--c)    0 calc(360deg/var(--n) - var(--d)), 
        transparent 0 calc(360deg/var(--n)));
  -webkit-mask:radial-gradient(farthest-side,transparent calc(100% - var(--b)),#fff calc(100% - var(--b) + 1px));
          mask:radial-gradient(farthest-side,transparent calc(100% - var(--b)),#fff calc(100% - var(--b) + 1px));
}

/* keep the element square */
.box:before {
  content:"";
  display:block;
  padding-top:100%;
}


body {
  background:linear-gradient(to right,yellow,pink);
}

<div class="box"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:20;--b:5px;width:150px;--c:blue"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:8;--d:20deg;--b:10px;width:130px;--c:red"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:18;--d:12deg;--b:8px;width:100px;--c:green"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:10;--d:20deg;--b:3px;width:100px;--c:purple"></div>

To make things funny we can even consider a more complex coloration to the dashes:

.box {
  --d:4deg; /* distance between dashes */
  --n:30;   /* number of dashes */
  --b:2px;   /* control the thickness of border*/
  
  width: 180px;
  display:inline-block;
  border-radius:50%;
  background:linear-gradient(red,blue);
  -webkit-mask:
      radial-gradient(farthest-side,transparent calc(100% - var(--b)),#fff calc(100% - var(--b) + 1px)),
      repeating-conic-gradient(#000 0 calc(360deg/var(--n) - var(--d)),transparent 0 calc(360deg/var(--n)));
  -webkit-mask-composite: source-in;
          mask:
      radial-gradient(farthest-side,transparent calc(100% - var(--b)),#fff calc(100% - var(--b) + 1px)),
      repeating-conic-gradient(#000 0 calc(360deg/var(--n) - var(--d)),transparent 0 calc(360deg/var(--n)));
          mask-composite: intersect;
}

/* keep the element square */
.box:before {
  content:"";
  display:block;
  padding-top:100%;
}


body {
  background:linear-gradient(to right,yellow,pink);
}

<div class="box"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:20;--b:5px;width:150px;background:conic-gradient(green,orange,black)"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:8;--d:20deg;--b:10px;width:130px;background:conic-gradient(black,white,black)"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:18;--d:12deg;--b:8px;width:100px;background:linear-gradient(60deg,red 50%,green 0)"></div>

<div class="box" style="--n:10;--d:20deg;--b:3px;width:100px;background:#fff"></div>

You may for sure want some content inside so better apply the mask/background on a pseudo element to avoid masking the content:

.box {
  --d:4deg; /* distance between dashes */
  --n:30;   /* number of dashes */
  --b:2px;   /* control the thickness of border*/
  
  width: 180px;
  display:inline-flex;
  justify-content:center;
  align-items:center;
  font-size:35px;
  border-radius:50%;
  position:relative;
}
.box::after {
  content:"";
  position:absolute;
  top:0;
  left:0;
  right:0;
  bottom:0;
  z-index:-1;
  border-radius:inherit;
  background:var(--c,linear-gradient(red,blue));
  -webkit-mask:
      radial-gradient(farthest-side,transparent calc(100% - var(--b)),#fff calc(100% - var(--b) + 1px)),
      repeating-conic-gradient(#000 0 calc(360deg/var(--n) - var(--d)),transparent 0 calc(360deg/var(--n)));
  -webkit-mask-composite: source-in;
          mask:
      radial-gradient(farthest-side,transparent calc(100% - var(--b)),#fff calc(100% - var(--b) + 1px)),
      repeating-conic-gradient(#000 0 calc(360deg/var(--n) - var(--d)),transparent 0 calc(360deg/var(--n)));
          mask-composite: intersect;
  
}

/* keep the element square */
.box:before {
  content:"";
  padding-top:100%;
}


body {
  background:linear-gradient(to right,yellow,pink);
}

<div class="box">19</div>

<div class="box" style="--n:20;--b:5px;width:150px;--c:conic-gradient(green,orange,black)">17</div>

<div class="box" style="--n:8;--d:20deg;--b:10px;width:130px;--c:conic-gradient(black,white,black)">5</div>

<div class="box" style="--n:18;--d:12deg;--b:8px;width:100px;--c:linear-gradient(60deg,red 50%,green 0)">9</div>

<div class="box" style="--n:10;--d:20deg;--b:3px;width:100px;--c:#fff">13</div>

Related question to get more CSS ideas to achieve a similar result: CSS Only Pie Chart - How to add spacing/padding between slices?. You will find more supported ways than conic-gradient() (actually it doesn't work on Firefox) but you are required to use a lot of code unlike the above solution where only one element is needed.

Using SVG you will also need some calculation to make sure you have a uniform spacing:

svg {
  width:200px;
}

<svg viewBox="-3 -3 106 106">
  <!-- 
    The circumference of the circle is 2*PI*R ~ 314.16
    if we want N dashed we use d=314.16/N
    For N = 20 we have d=15.71
    For a gap of 5 we will have "10.71,5" (d - gap,gap)
  -->
  <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" 
    stroke-dasharray="10.71, 5" 
    fill="transparent" 
    stroke="black" 
    stroke-width="5" />
</svg>

With CSS variables we can make it easier but it's not supported in all the browser (actually it doesn't work in Firefox)

svg {
  --n:20; /* number of dashes*/
  --d:5;  /* distance */
  width:200px;
}

svg circle {
   stroke-dasharray:calc((2*3.14*50)/var(--n) - var(--d)), var(--d); 
}

<svg viewBox="-3 -3 106 106">
  <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" fill="transparent" stroke="black" stroke-width="5" />
</svg>

<svg viewBox="-3 -3 106 106" style="width:150px;--n:20;--d:10">
  <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" fill="transparent" stroke="red"   stroke-width="5" />
</svg>

<svg viewBox="-3 -3 106 106" style="width:100px;--n:8;--d:15">
  <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" fill="transparent" stroke="green" stroke-width="5" />
</svg>

We can also easily use the SVG as background to make things more flexible:

.box {
  display:inline-block;
  width:200px;
  background:url('data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1" viewBox="-3 -3 106 106"><circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" fill="transparent" stroke="black" stroke-width="5" style="stroke-dasharray:29.25, 10" /></svg>') center/contain;
}

.box:before {
  content:"";
  display:block;
  padding-top:100%;
}

<div class="box">

</div>

<div class="box" style="width:150px;">

</div>

<div class="box" style="width:100px;">

</div>

When used as background, you need to manually set the value so you will need a different background each time. We can only make the color easy to change by using the SVG as mask;

.box {
  display:inline-block;
  width:200px;
  position:relative;
}

.box:before {
  content:"";
  display:block;
  padding-top:100%;
}

.box::after {
  content:"";
  position:absolute;
  top:0;
  left:0;
  right:0;
  bottom:0;
  z-index:-1;
  background:var(--c,red);
  -webkit-mask:url('data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1" viewBox="-3 -3 106 106"><circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" fill="transparent" stroke="black" stroke-width="5" style="stroke-dasharray:29.25, 10" /></svg>') center/contain;
          mask:url('data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1" viewBox="-3 -3 106 106"><circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" fill="transparent" stroke="black" stroke-width="5" style="stroke-dasharray:29.25, 10" /></svg>') center/contain;
}

<div class="box">

</div>

<div class="box" style="width:150px;--c:linear-gradient(60deg,green 50%,yellow 0);">

</div>

<div class="box" style="width:100px;--c:linear-gradient(red,blue)">

</div>

While these are interesting ways to do this tha look good in Chrome, only your first, basic SVG version functions in Firefox. Notably, Firefox (even the Nightly version) doesn't support [`conic-gradient()`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/conic-gradient#Browser_compatibility) or [`repeating-conic-gradient()`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/repeating-conic-gradient#Browser_compatibility). So, these might be a viable approach in the future, but it's not something that can be used at the moment, if cross-browser functionality is desired. — Makyen, Mar 08 '20 at 15:54
Given that the question OP's code functions correctly in Firefox (i.e. their stated problem doesn't exist in Firefox), but does in Chrome, it would probably be a good idea to explore the differences between at least Chrome (+ clones) and Firefox, while providing code that's functional in both (or at least explicitly state what can be used *now* that has cross-browser support). — Makyen, Mar 08 '20 at 15:55
@Makyen while the OP code works fine in Firefox, I am trying to focus on the *control the gap* part because with a basic border we cannot control the gaps. I am also adding the coloration part too. I am trying to make it a generic answer. Concerning the gradient, yes Firefox lack support but I am pretty sure it will come soon (I am still surprised they are late at this, Chrome was supporting this since almost two years). I linked to another question for more supported ways but it wasn't very explicit. Will update it. — Temani Afif, Mar 08 '20 at 16:04

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 08 '20 at 02:12

Use stroke-dasharray with SVG.

svg {
  width: 20vmax;
  height: 20vmax;
}

<svg viewBox="0 0 100 100">
  <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="48" stroke-dasharray="10, 4" fill="transparent" stroke="purple" stroke-width="5" />
</svg>

Or you can use radial-gradient(), repeating-conic-gradient() functions without Firefox.

.c {
  width: 20vmax;
  height: 20vmax;
  background-image: radial-gradient(#fff 68%, transparent 68% 70%, #fff 70%),
    repeating-conic-gradient(#000 0% 3%, transparent 3% 5%);
}

<div class="c"></div>

How to create dashed circles with uniform spacing?

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